Cow Power: Battery Runs on Bovine Stomach Bacteria

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Cow Power: Battery Runs on Bovine Stomach Bacteria

James Owen
for National Geographic News


Scientists say they have produced clean, renewable energy from the contents of a cow's stomach.

Researchers found they could generate electricity using the bacteria that occur naturally inside a cow's rumen—the first of four stomachs that breaks down grass and other fodder into a digestible mush.


The bovine stomach bacteria add to a growing list of cheap, plentiful, and non-polluting substances that run devices known as microbial fuel cells (MFCs).

MFCs are powered by electrons (the source of electricity) released by bacteria feeding on organic material. The microbes aren't fussy eaters, either. In tests, the bacteria have also fed on dead flies, fruit, even domestic wastewater and produced electricity.

Researchers at Ohio State University found that a pint (half a litre) of a cow's bacteria-infested rumen juice produced about 600 millivolts of electricity. The output is about half the voltage of a rechargeable AA-size battery.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/09/0909_050909_cowbattery.html

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1. Make mine a gallon of unleaded.....

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